$265G raised in race to succeed McEneny

Albany County Legislator Christopher Higgins leads the pack with $74,891

Updated 10:26 pm, Monday, July 16, 2012

ALBANY — Divided Democrats have poured money into the crowded contest to succeed Assemblyman Jack McEneny, swelling the campaign coffers of the half-dozen Democrats vying for the seat to the tune of $265,000 before anyone has even officially made the ballot.

By contrast, McEneny — who is retiring this year after two decades — spent only about $40,000 defending the overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning seat against a Republican tea party candidate Deborah Busch in 2010.

At $74,891, County Legislator Christopher Higgins outraised his five fellow Democrats seeking the newly redrawn 109th Assembly District seat. But political newcomer William McCarthy Jr. was sitting on the tallest pile of cash Monday when the public got its first look at how much has been raised to fuel one of this summer's most-watched races.

McCarthy, an assistant attorney general and relative unknown in the city's Democratic circles, reportedly raising $70,489, of which he still had $61,361 in the bank. Higgins, a lawyer for the state Senate Democrats who represents the neighborhoods around Albany's Center Square, had $52,605 on hand, his campaign said.

Some of McCarthy's biggest donations included $4,100 from Council 82, the statewide law enforcement union that includes most Albany police officers, and a combined $4,000 from Bolton-St. John — a State Street lobbying firm where his father and brother work — and its political action committee.

Former Albany school board President and former state Labor Department official Pat Fahy had the third most on hand at $50,441 after having raised $69,025. Fahy's fundraising total included $20,000 of her own money, half of it a loan to the campaign.

Meanwhile, Albany Common Councilman Frank Commisso Jr.'s campaign reported having $35,062 in the bank after raising $45,416 by Monday's filing deadline, which covers all money collected between mid-January and last week.

Higgins' and Commisso's fundraising numbers were provided by their campaigns because their detailed disclosure filings had not reached the state's online database by the newspaper's deadline Monday.

The eagerly awaited campaign finance standings come less than a week after the candidates filed their designating petitions to get on the Sept. 13 primary ballot — a rare Thursday vote caused by the fact that the original primary date fell on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Combined, the filings provide a window onto the political alliances forming in the party so deeply divided that the Albany County Democratic Committee voted in May not to formally endorse anyone. McEneny has also said he won't endorse a successor before the primary.

Commisso Jr., who represents the city's uptown 15th Ward and is the son of longtime party power broker Frank Commisso, has the backing of Mayor Jerry Jennings, while Fahy has the support of most of Commisso's fellow council members in the district and Democratic Party brass from suburban Bethlehem, Guilderland and New Scotland.

Her boosters include Albany County Democratic Committee Chairman Matthew Clyne, which has prompted calls from some for the party leader, who is also the Democrat's county elections commissioner, to recuse himself from ruling on any challenges to ballot petitions in the race.

A fifth Democrat, Margarita Perez, chief of staff to Queens state Sen. Jose Peralta, reported having $3,150 on hand after raising $4,994.

Former County Executive James J. Coyne, who served time in federal prison on corruption charges before returning to the public eye while resurrecting the Washington Avenue Armory, did not file disclosure forms, he said, because he has yet to form a campaign committee and has not yet held a fundraiser.

Conservative Party candidate Joseph Sullivan, a longtime Democrat who defected from the party in 2009, also did not file, saying he had yet to raise or spend much money and did not expect to do so.

Of all eight candidates in the race, Altamont Republican Ted Danz is the only one not from the city of Albany.